Hunger Pains
by badmotherfuhrer
Summary: A starving May is on her way to Fortree City, but she runs into her greatest rival, who's got some news for her.


Author's Note: There's something special about this story, and not just for me. I hope you guys can find out what it is.

Disclaimer: Only a fool would take my claims of owning Pokémon as fact.

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May fell to her knees in despair. She was hungry, in every definition of the word. Here she was just outside of the abandoned Weather Center, in the pouring rain, cursing her luck. She hadn't won a battle in weeks, and didn't have enough money to get food for her Pokémon, much less herself. She hadn't eaten in days. She began to wonder why she had to go on this stupid adventure. Who cares that her dad was some big-shot Gym Leader? Why couldn't she just stay home and work with Professor Birch? Brendan gets to, and he stays fed every day! She was beginning to whine to herself, and she knew it. It was her that had wanted to go on the adventure in the first place, so she had no right to whine about it. She had to focus. She had to find food. But to do that, she needed money. She had to find some, so she could buy some food in Fortree City.

'Will I even make it there?' she thought somberly. It was the first time that had occurred to her, and she didn't like it. She knew that her chances of thriving were all but gone. What were the chances of her merely surviving? She shook those thoughts out of her head and stood up. She had to make it to Fortree. This was _her_ story, dammit, and this was not how it was going to end! Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she tried to remember her father's mantra.

"Be hungry," she softly said. How appropriate. "Never stay satisfied. Be hungry. Never stay satisfied." She continued to repeat this as she opened her eyes and began to walk. But just as she took her first steps with her newfound strength, a voice caught her attention.

"In some cultures," it said, "hunger is the number one cause of death." May turned her head and saw a familiar face. It was Brendan, with a Pokéball in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his face. Cursing her luck again, she turned completely around to face him.

"My word, you have the worst timing!" she yelled, throwing up her hands. His grin, however, did not fade. If anything, it grew in size.

"Next time, I'll call you up," he said. "Or maybe I'll leave a sign somewhere saying I'm nearby. How's that sound?" May had no choice but to ball her hands into fists to keep from saying what was really on her mind.

'Piece of shit,' she thought. Brendan's smile faded, if only just.

"Of all the things to call me," he said, slightly more serious, "that's what you decide to go with?" Crap. Did May say that out loud? "Besides," Brendan continued, smile regaining its former glory, "you're the piece of shit." This drove May well past her breaking point.

"Work on your insults, you glitter-shitting, queer-for-the-cameras scene creature!" she yelled. Utterly exhausted from her lack of food, she lost all control, and her words began to tumble out of her mouth of their own accord. "I wish your mother had fallen down an elevator shaft when she was pregnant with you, and I hope you catch a strain of super herpes that will dissolve you to your very soul, you terrible, linguistically retarded cock-gargler!" Of course, she didn't mean any of this in the slightest. Brendan may have been an insufferable ass, but he knew he was her best friend, and May was the type of person who didn't insult someone unless she _really_ liked them. After that unusually long tirade, Brendan had but one question.

"Which one of those are you most proud of?" he quietly asked after a long silence, raising an eyebrow. May just stared at him with empty eyes, drained from the combined effort of staving off hunger and yelling at the other trainer.

"Will you just shut up and get out of my way?" she said, walking past Brendan towards Fortree. "I've got to get to the city, and I _really_ don't have time to be dicking around with you."

"Be that as it may, I still have news for you," Brendan said in a much more serious tone. May turned around to face him, suspicious that this was another prank of his.

"About what?" she asked in a half concerned, half frustrated tone.

"War is upon us," Brendan said simply, lowering his head. "I just found out yesterday."

"Between whom?" May asked, clearly surprised at this revelation. "Who are we fighting?"

"Team Magma and Team Aqua," Brendan said. "They're both trying to take over Hoenn by controlling Mt. Chimney. Aqua wants to cease its eruption so they can cover the world in water, and Magma wants to increase the eruption so they can make more habitable land for Pokémon and people." May looked confused.

"Rock flow doesn't work that way," she said, bringing her finger to her chin in thought. "You can't just make habitable land out of volcanic lava." She looked at Brendan again. "Come to think of it, you can't just make more water either! What we've got is what we've got!" She smiled. "Their plans will fail."

"It doesn't matter," Brendan said, shaking his head. "The point is, they're trying, and their combined efforts are going to destroy the entire country."

"And you know all of this how?" May questioned, doubting the veracity of the boy's claims at this point.

"The teams met at Mt. Chimney just the other day, and I just happened to show up," Brendan said. Any other day, he would have made a boast about how he had taken on both teams, but today was not a day for bragging. He looked down at the ground. "May," he continued, softer than before, "they're tough. Really tough." After absorbing and accepting the possibility that _neither_ of them would survive their wilderness adventures, May merely walked straight up to him, smiled, and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Rest assured, my oddly-tasted haberdasher!" she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about her rumbling stomach. "We'll beat them both!" This was enough to lift one corner of the boy's mouth into a half-smile.

"Of that I am certain," he said, pulling his childhood friend into a tight hug. May, who was now more concerned about her impending battles than about her gut growls, returned her friend's hug. She was done being frustrated with either lack of food or the friend to whom she was now physically attached, as she was ready to spring into action against the criminals that were threatening her homeland. Her stomach began arguing with her on this, as it bellowed yet another demand for sustenance.

"The thing is," May said, putting a hand to her abdomen, "I'm pretty hungry, so could we maybe get food in Fortree sometime today? You're buying." Brendan merely laughed at this and half escorted, half carried May just down the road, where Fortree was waiting for the both of them.

World travels had always been a part of May's plan, but she never knew they'd be this hard. With hunger pangs, bittersweet rivalries, and megalomaniacal crime syndicates, the world was truly a rough place. But even with the dangers lurking all around her, May knew one thing was for certain. She would not experience them alone.


End file.
